Governmental Plaza questions

[MinnesotaRuss]

Which city should the GP be placed in? The first? The one in the middle of your civ? A city you have captured? Then, what is your strategy for the additional buildings? Tell me your details and your thinking. (Not a big deal -- just trying to understand.)

 

[eleven11]

So, no hard and fast rules I don't think.. the most important thing is you get placed in a timely fashion where the T1 building of your choice is most beneficial to you.

What I like to do is expand towards a neighbor that I'm going to try to stay peaceful with and build it in that planned border city. That way the loyalty pressure bonus hits most of your cities on that border which should be of some help if you hit a dark age. It also puts pressure on an opponents cities just the same. You can't go wrong with placing it in your capital but I don't find it very efficient. I want my capital producing priority stuff and don't want it bogged down pushing production on all 3 tiers of buildings. Loyalty usually isn't a priority if playing peacefully as long as you build your cities with an understanding of how loyalty pressure works.

As far as district bonuses I place it planning to utilize at least 3 bonuses. If you can place it where 3 or more cities can use it then even better. This normally means a river placement to cluster in a few commercial districts with others. You can take 2nd ring tiles into consideration for things like wonders and mountains/hills for additional adjacency bonuses.

Edit: wrong suff

 

[Eliminator_Sr]

The other most beneficial attribute is the +8 Loyalty pressure. The way loyalty pressure works is the bonus decreases 10% for every tile. So the +8 works out to be +4.8 loyalty to all cities within 4 tiles (which is the closest you can pack them together) down to a 0.8 loyalty bonus to cities within 9 tiles. Obviously the closer the cities the better the loyalty bonus. If you will note that there are policy cards that provide +2 loyalty per city so that +4.8 bonus is significant.

I have totally neglected this aspect of the government plaza - thanks for that. The other factors are that it gives you +1 adjacency on all neighboring districts so I like to place it in a spot that overlaps into multiple cities so that you can pack in as many districts as possible. You also get +1 production for trade routes so it makes sense to place in a city where you can eventually build an Encampment, CH, IZ, and harbor to completely max the domestic trade yields (also in the capital for an additional +1, I'll sometimes build it there). Ideally build in a city that will grow fast and hit district thresholds sooner. Jungle cities are a good choice because you can chop all of that which adds food and instant growth.

 

[Mr. Shadows]

Lately I've been building it relatively early, in a city that has good hammers- frequently my cap. The reason for this is because I like to take advantage of the Ancestors Hall. I generally build my first expo as early as I can, and then have a big expansion push when Magnus gets his second promotion. Shortly after that I build the Govt. Plaza and then the Ancestors Hall. The AH gives another 50% to settlers on top of the card (I haven't tested this and don't know how the numbers work) so I'm able to build them fast, and I chop in more from other cities. The free builders go a long way towards getting the new cities off the ground. I'll mention though, it isn't worth delaying your expansion for this; the idea is to expand hard before and after the Ancestors Hall, not to wait for it. This is particularly potent with Rome, because each new city is ready to contribute with a builder and a monument as soon as you plant it. I don't clock super-fast finish times but this has been pretty reliable for me on Deity. If anyone has ideas on how to better use GP buildings I'm all ears.

 

[Nigel_Tufnel2]

It's so much easier to build in the capital, but I have been trying to build it in my 2nd or 3rd city lately. Many good thoughts have been offered already, but another thing to keep in mind is Pingala's 2nd promotion (100% GP points) isn't as effective (assuming you run him in your cap as I almost always do). Unless you enjoy pretending you are generating hidden bureaucrat points...

 

[Victoria]

The other most beneficial attribute is the +8 Loyalty pressure. T

are you sure?
The +8 shows in the Other column not the pop pressure one. I also did some tests and it seems defensive only, like other Others. I’m writing up a loyalty guide and I see no additional pressure for this building, just a column shift in pressure for your capital.

As @Eliminator_Sr said. I have built it at a harbour before because Harbor and commercial are both +1 prod and the extra adjacency stacks up on the Harbor or commercial.

Otherwise it’s just annoying to the point I’m thinking it may not be worth building some games, at least not early. Naturally Germany is an exception.

 

[eleven11]

Shoot you are right I think. I don't think it even applies to other cities because the expected result doesn't match the pressure formula. The 'other' bonus on my other cities must be coming from something else.

 

[Victoria]

The 'other' bonus on my other cities must be coming from something else

Most things end up under other and none of them apply pressure externally. All cards including governor cards go under other.
ALL external pressure is summed up and forced to be +20 to -20 in the pressure box... except 2’s from enemy amani’s In the governor box.
This is all just pop pressure, modified by age bonus and bread and circus... and capital modification (from global Params)

Of course I can always be wrong and like to be challenged, it helps me get it right and after all, we all cock up sometime. I just put the loyalty thread in my signature until I can get the guide up

 

[eleven11]

Nah you are probably right. It was something I read online somewhere and just went with it.

 

[Tabarnak]

I often build it in my 2nd city if that city is connected to a river with my capital(Or any river that cross both range cities). I often time a commercial hub in cap with Plaza and the 2nd Reyna level that gives double gold bonus. That gives myself a good gold boost, fast and early(+4x2= 8 gpt usually), helping myself to support more armies early or for faster development(note: i play exclusively multiplayer).

For better results i try to build the Plaza in function of every districts that will be built around to get maximum power from it.

The reason why i built it in my 2nd city is that my capital will often build an early campus district and comm hub so i don't have enough pop to build the plaza. The early campus is to get early apprenticeship(for more hammers and better chops).